Five Things You Probably Take For Granted

Elise Knutsen
, ContributorI cover international movers and shakers.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Moving to a crowded city in the developing world, I soon noticed things I had taken for granted in the States.

1) Building codes

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ask any american homeowner their feelings about building codes and you will likely be met with some long winded diatribe decrying what is perceived as arbitrary, bureaucratic authority. A look at the complete lack of enforced building standards in Dakar may help you discover a newfound appreciation for much maligned building inspectors.

While Dakar is relatively cosmopolitan, the city’s ever-multiplying construction projects have effectively no oversight. Buildings are erected with unstable foundations, indeterminate occupancy standards and unregulated materials. During the rainy season, it is not uncommon for buildings to collapse, injuring or killing the residents. Moreover, the government has allowed (or failed to prevent) cheap construction in regularly-flooded areas, making the semi-regular deluges even more destructive. As is often the case in urban planning, its the poor who suffer most.

Currently, hundreds of people in the poor neighborhoods surrounding Dakar have been displaced due to flooding and building failures this season. More than a dozen people have died since mid-August in building collapses

2) Running shoes

Are you more likely to stay home watching Gray’s Anatomy reruns than go for a jog? Consider this:

The Dakaroise (residents of Dakar) consider physical fitness of great importance, and over the decades an exercise culture has developed deep roots in the city. With limited resources, most people take an au naturel approach to fitness... Imagine the Rocky 4 training montage, but replace the snow with sand.

In the afternoon, hundreds of young men and women descend on the city’s beachside highway La Corniche Ouest to jog. In what can only be described as a podiatrists worst nightmare, the vast majority run long distances in plastic sandals, flip flops or even barefoot.

Needless to say, most Senegalese see ellipticals, treadmills, Zumba and spinning as ineffective and profligate accoutrements of the (largely overweight) Western world. Here, if you have feet, you are expected to be fit, period.

While borne of necessity, this bare bones approach to exercise should motivate those inclined to making sedentary excuses. In short, not having a clean pair of Lulu Lemon groove pants is not a legitimate reason to avoid the gym.